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Dec 4, 2021

80 Year Old HB Local Loves Cleaning the Environment!

She's an 80 year old cancer survivor that enjoys doing beach and neighborhood cleanups as well as her favorite spot in Huntington Hills called the Urban Forest.

Forest cleanup image

Meet Marie!

She's an 80 year old cancer survivor that enjoys doing beach and neighborhood cleanups as well as her favorite spot in Huntington Hills called the Urban Forest.

We spoke to Mary at one of our cleanups and she said she’s been working on cleaning up all the trash over at the Urban Forest for just over a year now. She donated a tree one day and noticed a lot of trash and decided she would head over on Thursdays to do her own little forest cleanups. If you’d like to help, just show up T-F&S, 9-1 pm and ask the attendants for a bucket and a picker and they’ll gladly loan you one.

We thought it would fun to get to know Marie a little more so we asked her the following questions:

  1. What other non profits do you admire? As a 40+ year cancer survivor, I have great admiration for the Cancer Support Community.
  2. What are you passionate about? Being retired! The freedom of retirement allows me to enjoy family, friends, hobbies and volunteering.
  3. So, we heard you volunteer your time over at the Urban Forest in Huntington Beach. What made you get involved with them? I had a potted Star Pine tree that had outgrown the container and desperately needed to be planted in the ground. My neighbor told me the Urban Forest accepted donated trees. I was so happy when we planted it that I decided right then to begin litter patrol!
  4. You mentioned that you spent approximately 1 year cleaning up the litter all throughout Urban Forest? Yes, I have been going almost every week since December 2020.
  5. What types of trash have you found at the Urban Forest? Food take out containers, balloon bouquets, cans, bottles, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, really almost any kind of trash you can imagine.
  6. Where do you think all this trash comes from? Some visitors just don't take their trash to the trash cans or carry it out with them. Litter can be blown in and it often catches near the fence line.
  7. How many pounds of trash do you think you’ve removed from this beautiful area? That is just too hard to estimate! When I first began, I would pick up two or three buckets full sometimes even more. Now, it is rare than I collect more than one bucket full.
  8. The Urban Forest is such a cool place to go for a walk. What's your favorite area to hang out in? Oh, the beauty of the enormous trees in the center! When I'm there, it really does feel like being in a magnificent forest.
  9. That's amazing you volunteered your time to help beautify the Urban Forest. What can other people do to help them? I'm sure donations are always welcome. I would just encourage the visitors to come and enjoy the forest and of course, clean up after themselves. One thing I would like to mention, is how often I am thanked by the visitors as they see me with my bucket and grabber, they really do notice and appreciate the cleanliness of the forest. This volunteer gig is very satisfying to me!
  10. We are always looking to be inspired, do you have any inspiring words on how to keep our earth as clean as possible? In my opinion, there is no better inspiration than that from the Native Americans —" Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children." We are all responsible to be good stewards of the earth!

Thanks Marie! We love what you’re doing for the environment and for showing others a positive path. If you want to go check out the Urban Forest it’s located off Goldenwest St. and Ellis.

Urban Forest:

6681 Ellis Ave, Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Open Daily from 6am to 8pm

If you want to support the Urban Forest visit: https://hbtrees.org/urban-forest-2/

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